Guido Nardini

Guido Nardini was born in Florence, Kingdom of Italy. His reported birth date differs according to authority consulted; dates given are 30 July 1881[1] or 13 March 1893. He earned a pilot's license, No. 590, at Bétheny, France before World War I, on 22 August 1911.

As World War I heated up, Nardini volunteered for military service despite his age. As a soldato, Nardini opened his victory skein flying a Nieuport 10 on 27 June 1916, when he, Alessandro Buzio, and a couple of other pilots shot down an enemy airplane after a 20 kilometer chase over Verona. The feat earned Nardini a Bronze Medal for Military Valor.[1]

By February 1917, he was serving with 78a Squadriglia as a Caporal, flying frequently as the wingman to Italy's leading ace, Francesco Baracca. Nardini used a Nieuport 17 to score his second victory on 14 June 1917. This victory earned him a Silver Medal for Military Valor. A month later, he shot down his third victim, on 18 July.[1]

Nardini transferred to 91a Squadriglia, but on 10 February 1918, shortly after his arrival, he had an accident while test piloting a Nieuport 17. Baracca had also transferred into squadron;[1] on 3 May 1918, Nardini and Baracca jointly incinerated a Hansa-Brandenburg C.I south of Grave di Papadopoli.[2] Two weeks later, Nardini, Gastone Novelli, and Cesare Magistrini teamed up on the Albatros D.III of Franz Gräser over Pero, and Nardini was a live ace and Gräser a dead one. Nardini was subsequently awarded a second Bronze Medal for Military Valor.[1]

A month later, on 15 June 1918, after two years of combat, Nardini rounded out his list with a solo victory over another Albatros D.III. On 23 August 1918, he was hospitalized for injuries suffered in a fall from a motorcycle.[1]

Nardini continued to serve through war's end and beyond. In 1923, he transferred to the newly established Regia Aeronautica. He was promoted out of the enlisted ranks, becoming a Maresciallo.[1]

While flying over Ciampino airfield, Guido Nardini bailed out of an airplane in trouble, and was killed by a malfunctioning parachute on 26 January 1928.[1][3]

• Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell; Alegi, Gregory. Above the War Fronts: The British Two-seater Bomber Pilot and Observer Aces, the British Two-seater Fighter Observer Aces, and the Belgian, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Fighter Aces, 1914–1918: Volume 4 of Fighting Airmen of WWI Series: Volume 4 of Air Aces of WWI. Grub Street, 1997. ISBN 1-898697-56-6, ISBN 978-1-898697-56-5.
• Guttman, Jon. SPAD XII/XIII aces of World War I. Osprey Publishing, 2002. ISBN 1841763160, 9781841763163.